Less Than Guilty
by Dimitri A
Summary: Wally’s fine, no one agrees. He and John are sent on a ‘quiet’ assignment that, goes wildly out of control when bounty hunters attack them. John’s on trail again, but this time he’ll gladly admit to the crime.(Follows 'You and I Got Something', Slash)
1. Motorcycle Drive By

Less Than Guilty

Author: Dimitri Aidan

Series/Universe: The 'Little Things' Verse.

Rating: PG-13 ish…

Fandoms: Justice League: Unlimited with some comic babble mixed in and a touch of Static Shock.

Pairings: Main: John/Wally. Other: Bruce/J'onn, Dick/OMC, Hart/Dove (implication type thingies…)

Warnings: …well, if you've read 'You and I Got Something' than…you should be aware of what's in here already. This follows 'YaIGS' but also takes place after 'Heroes', so if you're reading that…spoilers ahoy. Heh.

Summery: Wally's fine, no one agrees. He and John are sent on a 'quiet' assignment that, naturally, goes wildly out of control when bounty hunters attack them. John's on trial again, only this time he'll gladly admit to the offense.

Notes: This has the potential to be legitimately…angsty. But… well it's my usual 'humor with bite'. I think it's because John and Wally have really sarcastic minds and they are the main characters. Besides the scenario I thought up is just…damn. Funny. But damn.

This part was hard. I wanted to show Wally getting close to the edge, thanks to his overly efficient coping skills, but I didn't want any of that creepy sobbing and 'weak' shit.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Prelude  
Motorcycle Drive By  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

John knew about nightmares; he'd had more than a few in his lifetime. He'd been a solider most of his life, for the government in the more traditional sense of the word and later for the Lantern Corps in a slightly more offbeat way. Nightmares seemed to go hand in and hand with such a profession, if you could all it that. Watching people die tended to fuck with your head.

Killing people really fucked with your head.

On the upside being a Lantern rarely, if ever, called for the latter of the two. Sometimes however lack of the latter resulted in too much of the former.

Why, you wonder, was he thinking abut nightmares?

The answer lay with the man sharing his bed at that moment. John was a fairly light sleeper, as most people who shared his bed quickly found out. He'd been wakened by quiet pained noises and had come to awareness fairly quickly to find his lover twisted up in the sheets, skin flushed and slick with sweat. Normally such a thing would be somewhere between amusing and arousing but the grimace of pain combined with his uneven and harsh breathing killed both of those possibilities.

He should have woken him up the moment he realized he was having a nightmare but he was hesitating. What if he didn't want to be woken up? Or, rather, didn't want to be caught having a nightmare. Wally was fond of the 'I'm fine' school of reasoning and to an extent John believed him. Wally was…unique in the way he never seemed to fall into the trap of lying all the time like the rest of them.

He was honest with everyone except for himself. If he said he was fine he probably believed it to be so, but that didn't really mean that it was. Wally could be holding his insides in with his hand and bleeding all over the floor and he'd still wave off concern and say he was fine.

Wally was strangely complex that way.

John reached out and touched abnormally warm skin. He frowned and shook the other man lightly; half fearing he was running some kind of fever. Blue-green eyes snapped open, glazed and staring straight up into nothingness. Breath continued to come raggedly and John sighed. Wally looked like he was in shock.

He rubbed his hands over damp skin, trying to offer comfort without it being too much. It was only a matter of moments before Wally as shivering and blinking owlishly, but able to breath normally once again. He sat up and put a hand to his forehead, wincing.

"Wally-"

"I'm fine." He muttered while brushing his hands away. "Don't. I'm good John, nothing to be concerned about."

"Do you ever stop talking?" John asked, unable to keep the faint amusement from his voice. He hadn't even asked and already Wally was back into his usual response. Wally smiled wryly then closed his eyes, pale red lashes brushing pale skin.

"What's wrong with me?"

John chuckled then pushed Wally back so he was lying back on the bed. He stretched out next to him, not touching him but staying close. What happened next had to be up to Wally. He'd never been really good at making people feel better and maybe his tendency to drift towards 'strong' people was because of that. What he did know of comfort was more for damsels in distress and scared little kids and he doubted Wally would appreciate being treated as either.

"I ask myself that very same question about you frequently."

"I'll bet." Wally muttered and rolled over so they were touching. The redhead rested his head on his shoulder and a hand touched his chest, lightly at first then resting there. John didn't hesitate this time and wound one arm around Wally's shoulder.

He knew that, if he'd tried to make the first move, Wally would be whining that he didn't need to be held or coddled and that John was treating him like a child, which was about as far from John's intent as he could get. He just…wanted him to be okay.

Or as okay as Wally ever was.

0000000000000

Wally listened to John's even steady breathing and let it begin to tempt him back to sleep. This wasn't the first time he'd had a nightmare, though up until now he could time them well enough to be alone when they occurred.

It was his 'manly pride' of course. That and the fact he didn't know what was going on. He'd been fine until a few weeks ago, when the nightmares had come back. It didn't make sense. He wasn't afraid of Sinestro and he certainly didn't blame himself or any of those other things that people did.

Yet here he was, waking up in a cold sweat and temporarily unaware of what was going on around him and usually unable to return to sleep for the life of him.

John being near him after that dream should have been disturbing but rather it was…nice. He knew John wouldn't think any less of him or try to talk it out until he wanted to talk it out. John was good at 'interpreting Wally's strange moods', which Diana said was some kind of art form. (Like John's scariness, only even more complex because Wally kind of understood why people feared John.) He knew when to indulge his strange whims and when, in those strange moments of silence and almost…sullenness that he had, to just let him be.

Now was a time to let him be.

He'd be better by morning anyway.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hmm. And so the sequel begins! I love Wally when he's undercover tramuatized...


	2. Scars Remind Us

Less Than Guilty

My mother still owns me, how could I possibly own Justice League? It belongs to the big DC guys.

About the Burn: I wasn't sure what the hell to do about it. Seemed like a good idea when I was writing it, but now I don't know. Maybe Wally should get a tattoo to cover it. A lightening bolt or something…lol.

Warnings: Nothing really… Well, there's J'onn. I like J'onn. Something about his personality seems to flow well in a story with Manic Wally and Mildly Psycho John.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Chapter One

Scars Remind Us

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

It started innocently, as most things do. Wally was sitting on his couch eating a bowl of cheerios and reading through a passage of one of his textbooks with a highlighter in the hand that wasn't holding the spoon. John was half-watching him half going over a sketch he'd been working on.

Any minute now that bowl and its sugar drowned contents were going to be on his couch. He could feel it in his bones… Yeah. It was coming. Maybe because Wally was stupid enough to sit cross-legged on a couch with a bowl in his lap, maybe because he had his book resting against his knees, scant centimeters from the bowl, maybe because he wasn't ambidextrous and should really stop trying to do three things at once. (Four if John counted him non-too subtly watching 'Hellboy'.)

John shook his head and returned his attention to his own work. Unlike Wally he actually had a job beyond mooching off of the guy who liked him too much to be healthy. Wally had been amazed that he worked.

__

"You…work?"

John stared at him, pencil poised above the paper almost warily. "When you aren't around, sure. Why do you look so surprised?"

"Well…I though you were…I don't know, world saving centric. Plus you were a marine, and off planet for a while, and everything. When did you have time to become an architect?" He looked just slightly bewildered by this new information. "Don't you have to go to school for that?"

"Probably the same time Bruce was becoming a multi-millionaire and Clark was becoming a journalist. Just because you can't manage a life and 'Flash' doesn't mean the rest of us can't."

Wally snorted. "You have no life. That's why you keep me around."

"I…can't argue with that."

Rather suddenly the background noise of the TV was gone and he saw a blur of movement to his side. He looked up to see Wally in the kitchen washing out his bowl. He smiled ruefully. It'd only taken a month and a half to get Wally to wash his own stuff. Now if John could just manage to get the redhead to clean up his apartment (which frightened John from time to time. He'd call it a sty but he didn't want to offend any pigs) he'd have done the impossible.

He leaned back and watched silently as Wally milled about the small kitchen. John's entire apartment was a bit on the small side but, up until a few months ago, no one was ever around. Not even he spent much time here and the only people to visit were Shayera and…well…Wally. Now he spent a lot more time here, mostly because Wally seemed to be avoiding the Watch Tower. How that was possible was beyond John but the redhead was managing it somehow. He, personally, didn't really care where he was.

Though he had to admit he did kind of like watching Wally early in the morning. A pair of gray sweats hung low of the redhead's hips, showing off more skin than Wally intended. His hair was out of place, not that it was ever really in place, and he was always a bit quieter and…almost bearable. Where his usual maniac energy went off too was a mystery, but he wasn't complaining.

Not that he didn't like Wally when he was so hyper he made some kids John knew look mild, but a little change never killed anyone. As long as he was too quiet and withdrawn, in which case they drifted from pleasant variety into something worrisome.

Wally raked his fingers through his hair, which did nothing to help it, then turned to look at John who didn't even try to hide that he'd been watching the younger man. Wally blushed slightly then walked over to him and sat back where he'd been before, collecting his book and highlighter.

And no mess. Shocking.

"What're you doing?" Wally's tone was innocent but John knew better. Wally didn't ask these sort of questions if he didn't want something. Usually that something involved making John leave his apartment for an extended period of time and 'joining semi-normal society'.

"Working on the plans for the new Luthor Corp building I was telling you about." The look on Wally's face said he had no idea what John was talking about. "You know, the one I don't want to do because Luthor should be shipped off to a very distant planet devoid of all signs of intelligent life, but have to do because you eat enough for a small army and have no job of your own?"

Wally's eyes lit up. "Oh! That one."

"Yes, that one." John couldn't keep from rolling his eyes.

"Screw it." Wally plucked the plans from his fingers and then zipped off somewhere. John cursed and rubbed his temples in annoyance. It was going to take hours to find those. His place wasn't big but Wally seemed to have memorized every possible hiding place in his first five minutes in it, and that had just been when Wally was his annoying friend. Then he was back, smiling widely. "We're going to Blü dhaven."

"Isn't that where your friend Nightwing lives?"

"Yeah." Wally drew out the word and looked just slightly suspicious as he said it.

John sighed, swearing he could already feel how much he wasn't going to like this. "Okay Wally, I'll play along. Why're we going to Blü dhaven?"

"Well you know the Titans were like family to me and Dick is one of my two best friends, and I don't think you're ready to meet Hart yet, and I kind of want to meet his boyfriend in the non-world saving sense, but he won't let me until I agree to let him harass you. So I thought maybe lunch."

John arched an eyebrow slowly. "You want me to agree to meet your friend so you can meet his boyfriend?" It wasn't like he'd never encountered Nightwing but he'd never actually met the man beneath the mask, though Wally seemed to think very highly of him. "Okay."

Wally stared at him, mouth dropping open slightly. Then he pulled himself together, swallowing loudly. "What? Did you say 'okay'?"

"Yes." He really wasn't as anti-social as everyone seemed to think he was and he really didn't 'hate' everyone who crossed his path. (And certainly not the entire populace of the galaxy, contrary to Wally's belief.) He just…found most beings, human and otherwise, to have abhorrent personalities and that was through no fault of his own.

"Thanks." Wally smiled widely and John hated to admit that seeing him smile like that was enough to make any potential craziness worthwhile. He was so far gone he was starting to border on the pathetic. Still the redhead didn't smile like he used to. John couldn't blame him for being…different but sometimes it was unnerving.

Wally could be in the middle of something, smiling and cracking jokes in his usual fashion when something, a word or a gesture, could make him go silent and draw into himself. There was nothing so strange as watching Wally, arms wrapped around himself while he stared at nothing, quiet and nearly meek. It wasn't normal.

Not that anything about either of them was overly high on the normalcy scale.

But he didn't have time to really think about that. Wally kind of…tackled him and pressed a wet kiss onto his lips. John was still for a few long moments, surprised by the change. He reached up, fingers curling around Wally's forearm.

Apparently saying yes had been the right thing to do. Wally was entirely too easily amused for his own good.

Wally shifted his weight so that he was straddling John's hips and warm lips parted in a quiet gasp when John's 'free' hand slide down his back. Wally was probably the most receptive person John had ever had the pleasure of being with. The smallest touches almost got the most interesting responses. It was always fun to find new ways to make Wally react. (Though John was willing to entertain the fact that he may have been easily amused.)

He mentally rolled his eyes. That was nice, talking about the redhead like he was an experiment or something to study. He had to stop spending so much time around Bruce and J'onn. Then again it was better than being around Clark all the time.

John had been stuck on tower duty with him last week. It had been mind numbing. Superman was just…mind numbing. He wasn't so bad when you got him out of the uniform, and what a disturbing thought that was and it wasn't so say he wasn't still a pain in John's ass even then. Just a more bearable pain. But when they were 'working' it was all John could do to not try and throw him out of the tower sans spacesuit.

Though with his luck it wouldn't do anything except upset him.

His fingers busied themselves just under the hem of Wally's shirt, fingertips mapping out flesh. The skin there was smooth and he didn't need to look to know that it was pale. Wally was the cliché pale redhead. He claimed the sun was his mortal enemy and did terrible things to him. John also know that as smooth as the skin was here that a little higher out, just below his ribs, there was a long patch of raised skin, forming an 'S', a reminder of things better left forgotten.

Only he couldn't really forget and he sincerely doubted that Wally would ever.

Wally made a noise in the back of his throat, causing John's less than pleasant thoughts to give up and kill themselves in a terribly painful way that befitted such thoughts, and blue-green eyes flickered shut. A light flush had risen to his cheeks, making those hated freckles stand out even more than usual.

He was so easy. John's fingers trailed up more, expertly bypassing scarred flesh, when he felt Wally's shudder and tense up for a moment. If John hadn't known Wally as well as he did he probably wouldn't have noticed it.

John drew back slightly, more to breath than anything, then sighed before shoving Wally off of him. He smirked at the startled yelp followed by the dull thud of Wally hitting the floor. He sat up and smiled wryly, looking down at the glaring redhead.

That really shouldn't be half as entertaining as it was.

"You okay?"

"Yes. No thanks to you." He was less glaring and frowning sullenly. John wasn't concerned, knowing it was mostly annoyance on Wally's face.

"I have to protect myself from unnecessary suffering?" He shrugged and stood up slowly, stretching and wanting to banish the feeling of Wally _that_ close from his mind. He tried to pretend he couldn't feel Wally's eyes on him. "You're frustrating sometimes."

John liked to think he was getting better at interpreting Wally's various moods and, as such, he knew this wasn't going to go anywhere. Sometimes Wally was there and you knew he was there and other times he just…wasn't. He'd never understood if before but now he wondered if the nightmare the night before wasn't the first one and if they weren't the source of Wally's strange hesitance.

"Yeah." Wally sighed and leaned back on his elbows. "I'm frustrating. Sure. I think those sadistic tendencies of yours are closer to the surface than you pretend."

"Maybe." John admitted then shrugged. "Do you have any idea how stupid you look pouting like that?

"Of course." Wally stuck out his tongue. "But you love it."

"God help me." John muttered then paused for a moment to consider the turn in the conversation. Wally blinked then coughed while looking towards the floor. Then he looked back up and smirked uneasily.

"I don't God takes kindly to bastards who shove people onto floors for no good reason."

John rolled his eyes but decided to refrain from pointing out that, of all the reasons for some higher power to be pissed at him, being mean to Wally was probably fairly low on the list. No point in crushing his ego so early in the day.

00000000000

J'onn looked around the meeting room, observing the others. Wonder Woman was sitting next to Hawkgirl, discussing something in low whispers. Superman was sitting across from Batman and both were trying to pretend they weren't annoyed with the other.

The problem of the government 'plotting' against them was creating an even larger rift between the two men, eating away at the harsh and often confusing, but undeniable, friendship they had.

J'onn was next to Batman, trying not to think too much. On Mars thinking had been something you shared with others, as truly intimate thoughts were far and few between. Things like shame and embarrassment were uniquely human ideas that he'd finally begun to understand, somewhat, in his time among them. Everyone knew about everyone else and your mind was never a lonely place.

The opposite was true here, now. People were oddly selfish of their minds and hated the idea of someone probing into their thoughts and, for all the professed to want to be near others, he couldn't help but feel they were all dangerously far apart because of it. Even the most honest man hid himself from those he loved, but the very nature of having…thoughts.

The mind had become a very…lonely place for him.

Though he'd begun to get used to the strange, and often confusing, way that other races of people made relationships work without being able to sense each other's emotions. He supposed that, considering all things, there were worse things in life than adjusting to being alone in his head.

This meeting was going to prove to be uncomfortable. Both Flash and Lantern were elsewhere as neither had been informed of it and J'onn had to confess it made him feel deceptive to speak of his teammates, and friends, without their knowledge.

Still no one had asked what he thought of the matter and so he didn't say anything.

Superman was tense, worried…very close to being on edge. Wonder Woman was concerned and a touch confused. Hawkgirl was much the same, only very tense as well. Meetings sans teammates created a kind of sadness in her. Batman was ill at ease, feeling much as J'onn did. He thought it unsavory to be dishonest with two of the few people who knew who he was.

That too related to some of the frustration regarding Superman, who had called them here to begin with.

"So, lets get this over with." Hawkgirl said, breaking the silence. "I don't know about anyone else but sitting around staring at you four all day isn't my idea of a good time."

Batman's lips quirked in amusement before he inclined his head towards Superman. "She's right. We all have other things to be doing."

J'onn agreed. What else had to do he wasn't really sure but he knew he could find something. This really didn't sit well with him.

Superman frowned slightly. "I don't like this anymore than you all do." He was a little offended, out of his element amongst them. While the rest of the world stood in awe, and most of the League looked up to him J'onn could always sense that around them he was…vulnerable. He wasn't accustomed to the way they treated him like everyone else, even after all of this time.

He didn't like being the center of blame.

Before anything else could be said a holographic image flashing into being behind Superman's head. Superman blinked then turned and sighed before sitting down. The Guardians, if J'onn remembered what they were called correctly, were in the image and were watching them solemnly.

"Thank you for calling this meeting for us Superman."

The Kryptonian waved a hand dismissively. "That's fine. You implied this was a very urgent matter concerning Green Lantern."

"It is." One of the Guardians said nodding. "You must understand that John Stewart is on of the most trusted and noble Lanterns and we don't want to affect his work, however this cannot be ignored. It concerns the recent capture of Sinestro."

There were spikes of alarm and worry from Batman and Superman, respectively, but only curiosity from Hawkgirl and Wonder Woman. They had, at Wally's insistence, never been filled in on the whole truth concerning Sinestro's impersonation of Green Lantern. J'onn hadn't approved of the dishonesty but understood why Wally would want to keep the 'incident' to himself.

"What about it?" Hawkgirl asked, eyebrow going up. She was still very fond of John, though not necessarily in the romantic sense. Even if she had been she seemed to take too much pleasure in taunting him about his relationship with Wally to harbor any ill will.

"Obvious it would seem John crossed a line in his handling of things. Sinestro has been in a healing facility since he was collected from John's custody and has only recently been able to tell us his version of events which we must say is very different from what we were told."

Now there was a flash of annoyance from Batman. "I hardly see why you would trust anything Sinestro would tell you over what Lantern did. He's not only a criminal but I understand he's made a habit of going after Green Lanterns and stealing their power rings."

The Guardians exchanged a look then nodded slowly. "We are well aware of Sinestro's crimes but if John is using his power for vengeance then action must be taken. Sinestro is an example of what happens when Lantern's use their rings for their own gain and we won't allow this to happen again."

Wonder Woman's face remained impassively but her emotions were bordering on something very dark. She was very protective of Wally and by default took a threat to John very seriously. Not that she wouldn't have taken a threat to John seriously otherwise but this compounded upon it.

"It would seem to me that if Sinestro is taken out John's fellow Lanterns than he, and all of the rest of the Corps, are entitled to a small measure of revenge. You can't expect him to hold back on someone who has committed such crimes."

"It is not a matter of restraint, but a matter of deliberately and maliciously tormenting someone. If John has simply lost control we would understand but that doesn't seem to be the case."

"John would never do something like that." Wonder Woman kept her tone ever but her eyes clouded with anger. "Obviously Sinestro isn't to be trusted."

"Perhaps. This is why we seek your help. We have tried to contact John directly but he doesn't seem interested in responding, so we must direct our questions to you."

Hawkgirl arched an eyebrow. "You must know we have no intention of betraying John."

"We don't ask you for betrayal, simply for answers. If you wish not to answer we will understand." There was moment of uneasy silence before the Guardians continues. "Sinestro said that John took action against him because of what he had done to the Flash and that Flash and John were on intimate terms."

Again silence before Hawkgirl leaned forward in her seat eyes darting around the table. "What did Sinestro do to Flash?"

"Shit." A very uncharacteristic remark from Superman who was now eying Hawkgirl's mace warily. He was wondering whether or not he could grab it before the truth came out and she tried to kill someone with it. J'onn wasn't worried.

Hawkgirl wasn't one for misguided rage. Odds were strongly in favor that she'd find a way to get to Oa and make an attempt at finishing Sinestro off. Unless of course that was what Superman feared.

"You are not aware of Sinestro's actions against Flash?" The Guardians seemed surprised. "Sinestro said that Batman, Superman, and the Martian were all present."

Batman muttered something under his breath that sounded like "John should have broken his jaw." but J'onn didn't hear it well enough to be sure.

"I see." Wonder Woman blinked mildly. "I'm sorry to say that the nature of Flash and Green Lantern's relationship is not for us to disclose. Talking about them behind their backs is something we won't take part in."

"That is fine. If you were not aware of what happened then it seems you would not have been of much help anyway." The Guardians bowed slightly before the hologram vanished.

J'onn didn't think he was a sarcastic creature but he couldn't help but note that they had left right before the 'fireworks' they lit were sure to begin. Neither Wonder Woman nor Hawkgirl was going to appreciate being left in the dark. They would eventually understand that what Wally wanted took precedence over their own feelings but at the moment they were far from pleased.

"So," Hawkgirl's eyes narrowed dangerously. "What happened that you boys decided to not inform us of?"

00000000000

Wally figured there were certain rules that came with wearing spandex and getting into freak accidents/suffering serious childhood tragedies/getting powers from strange omniscient beings/being exiled from your people. One of them was the rule of visiting the 'territory' of other heroes.

Batman was a big believer in this rule and thus anyone who stepped on his turf was just begging for the Dark Knight to smack his or her head against something potentially painful. Wally wasn't sure if he believed in the rule or not, as he spent a lot of time all over the country and he wasn't aware of any overly strange occurrences. (John blamed it on his short attention span. Wally was inclined to agree.)

Still, the rule. It was something like 'If a city/area gets hit with a certain amount of criminal activity per week for it's main hero/heroine/heroes then, with each new hero to step within the city limits, the amount of criminal activity shall increase to be in proportion with the new addition.'

Wally, who'd never been great at stupid Math related definitions in school, liked to think of it as 'If Hero A kicks 3 people's ass daily and Hero B comes to visit than the number of ass kickings shall increase to six, and so on accordingly.'

Now Wally wasn't sure if this was true or if the addition of new bodies simply meant there was more potential for crime to be stopped.

Besides, if the rule was true then it was really unfair to Nightwing if every time his boyfriend came to see him crime increased and he had to handle it alone because he'd chosen to date someone who just didn't do violence.

Usually anyway. Wally was pretty sure he fell into a Dove-like category of not liking violence and seeking a better way, but being more than able to do what was needed when he needed to.

Case in point he was, at present, shuttling people out of the restaurant. That should have been the first sign that something was up; people like them just couldn't have a quiet time in a restaurant. Such an occurrence would defy all of the laws of the universe. Wally should have known better.

Still, when a group of mutant squid people burst into the riverside restaurant it was safe to say everyone had been…moderately surprised. Why he couldn't say, you'd think they'd be used to this kind of crap by now.

Well…varying degrees of this sort of thing anyway. The squid people were pretty weird looking. They looked human enough, aside from the pockmarked blue skin and the fact their heads were more…well, squids than anything. Just a kind of gelatinous mass that looked like it might slide from the creatures shoulders at any moment, complete with beady black eyes and waving tentacles.

It was vaguely nauseating in a way actually.

But the worst part, Wally thought as he raced through the restaurant looking for any other potential people in harms way, was that they were all ready to slip into the costumes and save the day a moments notice. Dick had vanished for all of thirty seconds before Nightwing appeared and started luring the creatures away from the more crowded areas and towards the back while Green Lantern went for the direct approach and used his ring to create a force wall and push them back.

He had gotten rescue duty.

Speaking of that, where the hell had Blair gone? Flash came to a halt and frowned. The place was, without a doubt, empty. The squid people were probably being pummeled back into the water and all of the people were out and he…was standing around looking goofy. So he grabbed a chair and sat down. He was pretty sure Lantern and Nightwing had this under control and…well, he was feeling lazy.

This was to be expected of course. He tended to end standing around looking a least slightly strange while he waited for the rest of the world to catch up to him a lot. That was actually a rather depressing thing, now that he thought about it. Sure, he'd adjusted to being two steps ahead of the rest of the world but it was still rather depressing.

In fact it was so depressing that Wally fully blamed it for what happened next. Well that thought and the fact that being a mutated quid apparently meant you could spit acidic ink. Who's idea had that been anyway? It was just…stupid.

Still, one minute he was sitting in a chair thinking about the downsides of superspeed and the next his chair collapsed (Actually the legs dissolved but he wouldn't know that until later) and he's flat on his ass. Which really shouldn't have happened, his reflexes were usually better than that, but he blamed it on being caught off guard.

He pushed himself up, wondering what had gone on. He just caught a wad of black heading in his direction before it actually hit him. Again, shouldn't have happened.

For a moment he just looked dumbly at the slippery black substance that had hit him in the side, wondering what the point had been. Then the burning started and it wasn't just the simple 'touching a hot pan' kind of burn but it was a burning that seemed to march over his skin, like a tiny army of fire ants stinging him in tandem, and sear him all the way to the bone.

He hadn't felt anything that painful since…well, since Sinestro and now really wasn't the time to be thinking about that freak but he couldn't seem to stop his mind from going there and now would have been a fantastic time to pass out because he was pretty sure he was on the verge of crying like a little girl and that was just a level of humiliation he was trying to avoid. A shadow fell over and while he rationally knew it was probably was one of the squid things and it couldn't very well be Sinestro because…it…couldn't, he didn't want to look up anyway.

He wasn't freaking out. He was Not freaking out. Now wasn't the time for a nervous breakdown of any kind and he'd love to reschedule one for later if that was at all possible.

Wally imagined his flesh was starting to melt and bubble right about now but rather abruptly his body decided it didn't care and would rather shut down for the time being. Wally greatly appreciated the thoughtfulness.

The world went a lovely shade of black and the pain faded away with his awareness of the outside world. Normally this would be a good thing but, because someone hated Wally, the nightmares that lurked in the corner of his brain decided to make another appearance.

00000000000

By the by, this is not a cliffhanger. Cliffhangers involve someone in trouble from outside influences; Wally only has to deal with the twisted maze that is his mind. And don't ask about the squid people, I was just having one of those moods…

TP96: I did write Rumors, as you know already. When I was moving stories I got on a bit of roll and, accidentally, deleted that and my one-shots. But it lives again and so…yeah. Thanks, I'm glad you like it so far.

Keeosu: Ah, another happy convert. I like the idea of opening up others to new fandoms, makes me all warm and fuzzy.

Saturn: I understand, don't worry. I tried to blend in more of that sarcasm into this part (along with random fluffyness) so you can laugh in a non inappropriate way this time. Hopefully. And…I'll see what I can do. I am an obliging sort and I work with random ideas pretty well.

Mechante: Maybe. I'm not sure I want to find out if my strange sense of humor extends that far…killing people is never fun. Unless they're really annoying people… The recording does still exist, in the bottom of Wally's sock drawer. (No. I'm serious. That's where it is) We may see it later on. Depends on Wally's mood later. And, since you asked, I did find the lost chapter of Iris. I saved it in the file I usually hold by Harry Potter stuff in and I'm a dork and didn't think to check there…

Cherre: There is absolutely no way I could wrap up 'Heroes' in time to save you from spoilers, trust me. And it's no so much sad as kind of…bittersweet.

HAP: Things most likely won't pick up for a chapter or two. I do that sometimes, accidentally take a roundabout way of getting where we're going. Rumors…I'm working on part four on and off. What stories I write often depends on my mood… Rumors calls for a mood I can't even really explain.

Candy: Pink freak…lol. Sinestro is certainly that, though I felt bad about making him such a goof. He's an actual legitimately scary dude so I had to bring him back for a sort of revenge. I know, bad Dimi… I'm trying to have Wally deal in a way that's realistic for someone like…well, like Wally. Hopefully I'll do okay.


	3. We're Going Down Swinging

Less Than Guilty

If I owned JL:U, college payments would be a little less daunting don't you think?

Notes: The thing about Wally's thoughts, beyond the general lack of punctuation in all respects, is that it works best if read really fast. I realize that if you read it too slow it kind of just seems…jumbled and disjointed. Runs smoother and is a lot less confusing if you just run through it. Hence the lack of punctuation. There are no pauses in Wally's thoughts. If I could do it all as one big paragraph without wanting to smack myself I would.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Chapter Two

We're going down swinging

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dick's apartment wasn't anything fancy but it had roof access and really what more could your typical hero want in life? At least that's what John was thinking as he walked down the dark hallway carefully towards the only light on in the apartment.

He had to admit he was a little surprised Blair had been able to lift Wally, let alone fly all the way over here with what had looked like a broken wing. But he'd done it, and gotten here faster than John had on top of that. They'd left Nightwing behind, not something John would usually go for but the younger man seemed to know what he was doing.

"Hit the light if you can't see." Blair said as he turned into a room. John stopped in the doorway and felt along the wall for where he assumed a switch would be. His fingers brushed over cool plastic and he flipped it up. Bright light flooded the room and he squinted for a moment at the sudden change.

When he could see clearly again he saw Blair had laid Wally on the bed and poking a finger at his side, which was an angry red color and had welts rising up. The black acid was gone and he guessed that Blair had cleaned it off already. John leaned against the doorframe, watching. Blair seemed to know what he was doing and far be it for him to mess with a guy who had abilities that boarded on the mystical.

John didn't get magic. Didn't like it, didn't understand, and tried not to deal with it when he could avoid it. Even drawing strange green energy from a lantern given to him by strange guys from a distant planet was something he didn't like to think about too heavily.

Blair straightened up and reached into the bedside dresser before tossing an unlabeled container to John. He caught it easily then looked back up at the younger man for an explanation.

"Healing salve. Just put that on the burn and he'll be good as new. Unless he's allergic to something in Dia venom, which would suck a lot since only one in every few hundred thousand is. I'd do it quickly, because if it sunk into his skin and starts spreading he'll probably die." Blair seemed almost annoying cheerful as he spoke. "I don't think it has but you know, better safe than sorry."

"Thanks." John said slowly, trying to gauge how serious he was. Blair nodded then slipped past him, feathers brushing over John's skin as he went.

"I'll be in the living room, attempting to pop my wing back into place." There was a note of pained amusement to his voice. "If you hear a thump I've just passed out from the pain."

"Maybe you should wait for Dick-"

"Fuck no. Last time I let him try to help I ended up having to re-break it so it could re-heal correctly. It was not fun and it takes weeks to heal if you screw it up." He leaned against the doorframe for a moment and John couldn't help but notice that his eyes were a little glassy. "Anyway, you, healing salve, Wally. I'll live."

With that Blair all but bounced away, completely unconcerned with what was going on. Either he was in shock, or he was just weird.

Somehow John couldn't even muster the proper amount of emotion to give it any real thought. He had, after all, dealt with stranger people. He unscrewed the lid of the container while walking towards the prone form of his lover. He frowned as the almost…fruity scent reached his nose.

He considered it for a minute then decided that, in the grand scheme of things, smelling like berries was better than being dead. He crouched next to the bed and dipped his finger into the cool gel then carefully began to rub it over the burned area.

Again, he couldn't even make himself be surprised when the flesh began to pale and heal before his eyes. Nothing really surprised him much anymore. The only thing that kept him from drowning in…everything was just not thinking about it.

Easier said than done of course. John was slowly, but surely, coming to terms with the fact that as much as he tried to tell himself not to think, he over thought a lot of things.

Wally whimpered, a soft pained noise, and John looked up, hand stilling. Nothing moved for a moment and he almost thought he'd imagined it when the redhead whimpered again, face contorting in pain. Wally's hand clenched and his entire body went stiff with tension.

0000000000000

He was on fire. No, that was too simple a word for it… His entire world was nothing but heat, a burning white heat that seemed intent on trying to consume him. He couldn't remember anything before it started and he wasn't sure if it would ever stop.

He couldn't even really feel his own body anymore. Did he have one? He didn't know where he was and really wasn't sure if he was anywhere at all. All he knew was the blinding hot pain.

He was alone only…not really alone. Someone was there and, now that he knew someone was there, his awareness altered some. He felt touches, light deceptively soft touches but they were wrong. His brain chanted the wrongness to him over and over but it blurred behind the pain and the blackness.

He almost wanted to return to the pain, because the touches…they made him want to die. Made he want to scream and fight and they were **wrong** but touching him everywhere, worse than the heat even and he wanted it to stop. He thrashed, only he was bound by something he couldn't get out of and why couldn't he get out.

Sickeningly hot and wet breath blew over his skin and he arched up, seeking to get away from it and crying out as something sharp, but blunt, cut into his skin.

Someone called his name.

00000000000000000

Wally reasoned that maybe he's been screaming because a hand was over his mouth and he blinking blurry eyes up at a strange off-white ceiling. He was not in his bed or his room, how exactly he knew that he wasn't sure but he knew, and a kind of fear slunk into his stomach like a thick slime and he grabbed the wrist connected to the hand and dug his nails in and wanted it off

"Wally, calm down." Simple patient words. He blinked again, eyes focusing finally on glowing green. "Breathe."

Maybe if John didn't have his hand over his mouth he could do just that, a voice in his head snarked even as he drew in a sharp breath through his nose. He felt his pulse returning to something resembling normal after a long stretch of silence then blinked up at John, trying to communicate that he was no longer freaking out.

John pulled his hand away and rubbed at his wrist, looking very…contrite and something that seemed apologetic. "I shouldn't have done that. I just didn't think you wanted the entire building hearing you screaming."

"I don't." Wally wondered if his body was numb because he distinctly recalled being hit with some kind of skin melting acid and passing out but now he didn't feel any pain. "Sorry."

John shrugged and stood up, offering him a small girly smelling container. He blinked at it dumbly. John rolled his eyes then set it on the table and offered him a hand up. He took it and carefully sat up, half expecting pain to crash back into his senses. But he didn't feel anything.

Literally actually. His entire side had that tingly numbness going on. "Hey, John, I'm kind of…tingling here."

"Tingling." John repeated in the tone of voice that indicated he wasn't sure he wanted Wally to continue along that vein of thought.

"Um. Yes." He reached down and touched the area below his ribs where he recalled that ink-like acid hitting him. He dimly felt the pressure of his own fingers, but barely. It was all really…tingly. He needed to find a better word to describe how it felt.

John's fingers brushed over his own then prodded him carefully. He blinked at John but the other man's entire focus was on him. He looked down to see smooth, if not a little shiny, skin. In fact some of the old scars Wally had gathered since he started out as Kid Flash were gone.

Weird.

"Your friend's boyfriend is a mystic."

"Blair? Yeah I know that; you should see him when he really gets going…did he do that?" For some odd reason Wally didn't particularly like the idea of someone putting their hands all over him while he was unconscious. …okay, not for an odd reason but rather for a perfectly valid reason that made him kind of queasy to even think about when he was fully conscious.

Even though he was reasonably sure Blair was trust-worthy in that department if for no other reason than he probably wasn't having any problems getting laid at the moment. …And, of course, the fact that Dick trusted him factored in.

Only not. Dick's taste in people was more infamous than encouraging. On the normalcy scale the orange alien chick and the half-demon guy would have been far out for most people but for Dick it was about as close as he'd ever gotten.

Wally was proud to say that everyone he'd dated thus far had been human.

Though John had some pretty non-human traits at times.

John nodded towards the container. "That did it."

Oh. Wally nodded his understanding then sighed and raked his fingers through his hair. Suddenly he recalled why he he'd given up on ever having anything that resembled a normal life. Couldn't even go and see people without hell breaking loose and stupid nightmares and…stuff.

John's hand left his side and touched his arm. "You okay?"

"Fine. See, good as new. Better actually. I wonder what's in that-"

"Wally." Shit…John sounded serious. That was never a good sign. He glanced up at him, meeting John's steady gaze. Wally wondered if he was going to start asking questions now because…well, he didn't think he was up to any questions. Besides, that whole not talking about things thing they had going on was working so well.

Only not in the least.

Wally's denial didn't run as deep as some people may have thought.

"John I-" Wally was interrupted by a loud thud. John was silent for a moment then stood up and turned to leave the room, presumably to go see what had happened.

"Don't move."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

"I'm serious." Was the last thing John said before completely vanishing from Wally's line of sight. Wally sighed and stretched back out, pillowing his head on his arms. Of course John was serious, he existed in the land of the permanently serious.

He was going to give himself a heart attack that way, Wally thought a little sullenly. The only time he really saw John relax was when they were alone, which wasn't really all that often. Someone invaded the world every other month it seemed like and there was only so much time you could spend with a person when that kind of stuff was always going down.

That, combined with the times Wally went out of his way to avoid John…

Like right now. Under normal circumstances he'd been in his own bed, wallowing in his own overwhelming dysfunction and wondering what deity hated him so much. It wasn't that he thought John would think less of him, Wally didn't worry about things like that seriously, but that he had never liked the idea of having someone worry about him or try to take care of him. He wasn't a child.

He groaned, curling up and draping an arm over his eyes. He didn't like being weak or having others see him break down. Everyone in the League already doubted him, or at least it seemed like next to no one was inclined to take him seriously, and he didn't want to make it worse by having them know that he was actually as screwed up as they thought he was.

Because he was really really screwed up. It was becoming very clear to him.

Wally so didn't want to be screwed up. He'd already been there and done that. He just…didn't know. He couldn't just avoid the nightmares anymore, because they were coming more frequently and John had already seen them. He closed his eyes, blocking out the strangely bright light on the overhead light, and trying to think clearly for a change of pace.

Maybe he needed a vacation.

Or not. Last time he'd taken a week off shit had hit the fan directly after and there was no reason to go tempting fate. He just…had to continue trying to wait it out. Or something. Dealing. He had to deal with it.

Whatever the hell 'it' was.

Right now he wanted to sleep only, really, he had no interest in sleeping. He didn't want to wake up screaming again. That was really unhealthy and a serious blow to his ego. So…not going to do that again. It wasn't like he needed to sleep like normal people did anyway. As long as he ate and rested occasionally he'd keep going for weeks at a time.

He'd figured that out right after Sinestro had…well, when the nightmares had first come. He'd gone without sleep a lot for about a month. And then they'd stopped. He'd been good, really, and if not for the fact that forgetting was nearly impossible he probably would have done just that. It hadn't bothered him or plagued him and he'd quite successfully buried it under everyday stuff and world take-over foiling and League annoying and except for those moments when everything seemed to get so heavy, to push in on him and threaten to press the very life out of him because it was just too much…

Yeah. Except for those moments life was great.

Only now not so much.

The moments of crushing weight were more often and it was harder to just sweep over them. He knew John was noticing…hell, who couldn't notice? He was…moody. He was never moody. But he was. Sometimes he felt like he was spiraling out of control and all he could do was sit down and close his eyes and wait for everything to just stop.

And Flash waiting for things to stop moving wasn't normal behavior and when you weren't normal people noticed things and when they noticed things they started asking questions and when they asked questions they wanted answers…

Answers he didn't want to give.

To anyone.

He just…had to wade through this. He could do it. He was the Flash, nothing serious could stick to him…he defied angst to cling to him. Besides, he had the oh-so helpful advantage of being a hero. How many victims had he told that it was okay, that it wasn't their fault, that they hadn't done anything wrong? He knew all of that, believed it, and he didn't need to be told or consoled or reassured. He knew already, knew the logic behind it all. He had told himself all of that over and over again and he should have been okay, or at least something reasonably close to okay.

So why was he so fucked up?

God he was so fucked up.

It was just so…wrong. He was supposed to be a hero, a protector of the innocent and all of that fun fuzzy stuff and he couldn't even get himself together. He was supposed to be good at this sort of thing, putting himself back together when he was crushed into bits by the at times random insanity that his life had begun but he just…couldn't this time.

Maybe he needed more glue…

He snorted, or at least he thought he did. The world was getting kind of hazy and he blinked, letting his eyes slide shut once again. He needed a moment to collect himself or…he wasn't sure what exactly it was that he needed.

"You didn't fall asleep did you?"

Wally started, sitting bolt upright while trying to command his heart to crawl back down his throat, then looked over to the door to find John back and regarding him with a blank expression. "Not to my knowledge."

"Good enough. We're being 'summoned'."

Wally swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood, hesitating for a moment when the room tilted. John just blinked at him, lips quirking at Wally's annoyed glare. He walked over to him, pushing his hair back from his face. John touched his shoulder lightly then shoved his hands into his pockets with a sigh.

Wally closed his eyes for a moment as he felt the by now familiar full body itchy tingle of transportation. Truth be told he was glad; League business he could deal with without any thought…he could just run on stand-by for a while.

He opened his eyes and stepped off of the transport platform and followed John to where the others were standing. Diana glanced his way for a second then looked at the ground, biting her bottom lip almost anxiously. Wally titled his head off to the side; what was up with her?

J'onn has his arms crossed over his chest and was standing close enough to Bruce that had it been anyone else Wally would have wondered at it, but it was J'onn so…well, it was J'onn. He kind of struck Wally as asexual, like people's parents were asexual. You knew, logically, that they weren't but you were really a much happier person if you continued to delude yourself.

And, beyond that, _it was Bruce, who Wally also had happily stowed away in the denial built 'asexual' box in his mind._

Gross.

Seriousness seemed to hover like a cloud around the assembled five and it made Wally very uneasy. His paranoia must have been acting up again; the many dangers of making friends with people like Question. He was even starting to suspect the Girl Scouts of less than savory behavior now.

"So, who killed who with what in which room?" Wally asked with cheerfulness he didn't feel, but needed to fake in order to hide how tired he was. Bone deep tired, where weariness gnawed at the marrow of his bones and sent an empty chill throughout of his body.

True to form Superman rolled his eyes. Wally relaxed, already feeling more at ease with his status of 'Group Idiot' back into play, at least for the moment.

"John's bosses called us." Hawkgirl said, looking at John with narrowed, almost suspicious eyes. "About Sinestro."

John blinked mildly. "Really? Why didn't they just contact me directly?"

"They tried. They seem to think you got them and never replied." J'onn spoke, voice accusing while still maintaining it's usual deadpan.

John's lips twitched in a way that made Wally kind of nervous. He took his role as Lantern too seriously to be amused by something. Or…at least he used to take it too seriously. Things were different now; John wasn't that painfully in control guy like he used to be.

He could lose it, if given the right motivation.

"I've been busy."

Superman scowled. "It could have been important."

John's fingers flexed in a way that screamed impatient to Wally, but apparently it only screamed that to Wally because no one else so much as moved. The other members of the League were strangely absent, in spite of this being the middle of the tower and usually crawling with Leaguers and workers alike. Wally could only imagine how much trouble Superman and Batman had to go through to get everyone else to be anywhere but here.

"Some things are more important." His fingers flexed again and Wally was torn between the overwhelming urge to blush and the equally overwhelming urge to kick John. Hard. Like it was his fault John hadn't felt the urge to answer the 'intergalactic phone' or however it was he talked to the bigheaded dudes.

He settled on blushing, since violence was frowned upon (Mostly by Batman, oddly enough), and looking intently at the ground.

"They seemed to think that your actions against Sinestro were out of vengeance, not duty." Superman continued as if he hadn't heard John speak, which was impossible because he was Superman and could have heard John if he was whispering somewhere on Mars. "They wanted us to…speak on certain things, which we declined to do. We don't want to get between you and the Guardians John-"

"Don't." John cut Superman off while glancing sideways at Wally, who felt sick all of a sudden. Sinestro was apparently out there, _talking_ about things that shouldn't be talked about, _ever_. John's hand brushed his own before the man pulled away and headed in the general direction of the control room. "I'll handle it."

Funny, Wally wasn't really sure whom John was talking to when he said that: the others or him. Decided it was best not to think about it because apparently the older man had a plan of some sort and that just made him really…wary.

"John-" Superman started but only got a dismissive wave in return. There was a moment of almost strained silence before Wally could feel all eyes turn to him. He swallowed and looked up, trying to force a goofy smile into place.

He had this strange feeling it wasn't working. Damn. What a time for him to be too tired to lie properly. He wasn't ready to try out that 'honesty' thing with himself, let alone anyone else.

"So. Anything interesting happen while we were gone?"

Diana frowned at him, a battle clearly being waged behind her eyes. Finally she let out a breath. "Are you okay Wally."

It wasn't the words or the tone or fake bright smile that Wally had perfected in his teens, or even the sad look in her eyes. It was really the flash of concern in Hawkgirl's eyes combined with the subtle wince from Batman plus all of the aforementioned things that let Wally know that they all knew.

He felt an inexpiable spike of anger and glared in the general direction of Batman and Superman, both of whom looked as uncomfortable as Wally had ever seen them. He looked back at Wonder Woman and then over at Hawkgirl, who was gripping the handle of her mace a little tighter than was necessary and looked for the life of her like she just wanted to crush something.

Wally understood that.

He wanted to hit something. Really just…wail on something and just keep swinging until whatever was unlucky enough to be his target was reduced to rubble, was itching to just punch as hard and as fast as he could until there was nothing left and use his power in a way he normally didn't, for fear of…well, just fear. Wanted to feel something break under his fists. Wanted to let everyone know just how angry he was that he, and his 'problem's were the topic of anyone's fucking conversation when his problems weren't anyone's concern except his.

He gritted his teeth, anger welling up inside of him and crashing against his seams and begging to be released. It burned and he burned and just…seeped. Crawled, pulled, consumed and there was just this anger, rage, that probably didn't even fit the situation and had come surging out of nowhere.

Wally ran.

Not so much to escape any questions as to keep from bubbling over, plus it always made him feel a little better. In the safety of his own quarters he happily left a large dent in the wall and heard the morbidly satisfying crunch on his own bones before he just sat on the floor and let the anger give way to the tiredness he'd felt before. In a matter of seconds he felt as if the anger, which had seemed so powerful just a minute before, had never even existed.

Just like that. On and off like some kind of light switch in the hands of a bored and hyper child who had always been told not to touch.

He cradled his hand, considering the slowly swelling fingers, then leaned back with a sigh.

Funny that it didn't really hurt.

They had to have some kind of medication for this. They had medication for everything else, why not this as well?

00000000000000

Cherre: Wally is horrifically abused, mostly by me, because it's fun. Not kidnapped, just maimed a little bit. He's better now, I suppose… Crazy and dysfunctional, but better.

Mambo: The ungodly amount of snark are what keep me writing, to be honest. I sincerely doubt I can ever stress this enough, but it's fun to write this stuff and that's why I do it.

Ellen: Well, in a purely factual manner, the squid thingies are from Pittsburgh. I have it on pretty good authority that they followed Blair. Things between Piper and Don worked out, as far as I know anyway. Something to ponder over later perhaps… anyway, yeah. It's no real stretch to think that J'onn has a sick sense of humor when you really think about it. He's always watching, making cryptic comments, and smirking. It's creepy. A lightening bolt? That's certainly something to consider…

Mechante: Aww, I'm glad you liked J'onn's POV so much. I put an unusual amount of effort into it, to be honest. Wally's just barely walking the edge. He keeps slipping as he walks, you know? Any chapter now he's just going to plummet, I can feel it…

Astalder: Sinestro, in all his wicked goodness, is not mine. He's an actual DC character, known for being an enemy to Green Lanterns everywhere. Later on I'll get into the fact that's he is a legitimately bad dude, in spite of turning into a wuss when John confronted him. The other story 'You and I Got Something' is on my other profile 'Dimitrit'.

Aiteane: I was on your list but you don't remember why…intriguing. Than again, I'm easily amused…

Scari: Yes, it was Papa Roach. All of my chapter titles come from songs and it always makes me grin when someone can identify one (or more) of them.


End file.
